Text- Galatians 1:10 – "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ."
Today, I want to admonish you to live your life with full consciousness of the ever-abiding power & presence of God. If we will genuinely please God with our lives, we must realign our minds to derive its satisfaction and accomplishment from divine approval.
There are many reasons why people don’t ‘misbehave’. This depends on where there utmost sense of approval comes from. I have listed and tried to briefly explain some of those reasons below. I want you, as you go through the list, to examine thoroughly what your own conviction is and why you are “behaving right”.
1. LAW
The law usually deals with actions and consequences. The consequences of certain actions are the reasons why some people are not doing them. If they could escape the consequences, they most likely would have done those things.
For instance, some won't kill because they don’t want to go to jail or worse still, be executed; Some people are not embezzling money in their office simply because they’re afraid of the law catching up with them, not necessarily because they fear God, or because they value human life that much.
Some even become Christians simply because they want to escape hell fore, as if Christianity is some sort of fire insurance policy! While hell is real, and sinners will go there, Christianity is first and foremost about the love of God, and the grace made available through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. CIVILITY
Civility has to do with formal politeness and courtesy in the way a person behaves or speaks; it’s basically being friendly and nice to everyone, regardless of who they are or what they might have done to you in time past. Some professions impose certain measure of civility on their practitioners.
Such things as exchanging pleasantries with strangers, speaking politely to someone who has hurt you so badly, helping out when you can etc. can be products of civil behavior.
Some unbelievers are so civil; you won’t suspect that they could be evil. Don’t be the kind of Christian who has a lot formal politeness and courtesy in behavior and speech because of civil standards. Let the word of God be your standards.
PRAYER
Lord, if there is any area of my life where my convictions are wrong, help me to realign today so that in the face of trials and temptations, my resolve to serve and to please you will not fail.
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